Ashes Preview

Well, seeing everyone else is doing previews of the upcoming Ashes/AFL Draft, I may as well throw my 2c in! Obviously a big day tomorrow for a heap of youngsters hoping for a crack at AFL tomorrow. But us Cats fans have a saying - in Wells we trust. He's the expert in drafting the next group of kittens to pull on the blue & white hoops. And as much as I love my AFL above every other sport, the up & coming new blood in one area I don't have a lot of expertise in. So we'll leave that to the experts, shall we? On the other hand, everyone has an opinion on how the upcoming Ashes series will pan out. The old enemies, Australia & England, will battle for the oldest prize in cricket again starting from tomorrow, & as its in Australia under the backdrop of summer (if it ever arrives here in Victoria), at a time where we'll be able to watch it, we're all pumped for it! Especially as we are seeking revenge on the Poms after a tense 3-0 loss in England earlier this year. As a kid, I was actually probably more so into my cricket than my footy, though people who know me or have followed me on twitter for any length of time may find that hard to fathom. I used to hang out for the start of the cricket season down under - probably cause it indicated that the school year was coming to a close, & the Xmas/summer holidays were nearly upon us. We would be free to go go out & play cricket in the backyard & the street, throwing the tennis ball down like we were Dennis Lillee, or Craig McDermott to our hearts content without having to worry about homework, or getting up early for school the next morning. Indeed, daylight saving meant more hours out having fun - a concept that seems to have been lost in the computer games/smartphone/electronics age than Gen Y have grown up in. For us, it also meant we got the chance to catch up with some extended family members,usually just after Xmas to exchange gifts at our grandparents place, if we were lucky, we'd all catch up at some point in January down at our holiday house in Apollo Bay. This was back in the day we could still take time to all get away from the regular life - before our society became 24-7-365. One thing about the Crofts - we're all sports mad! Especially cricket mad! So there were plenty of chances for a good hit at cricket. So over the summer, it was cricket, cricket, cricket. While today the game maybe doesn't hold quite the special place in my heart as it used to (unlike most of my cousins who are still involved at a lower level to some degree) but this is the big one. And while we tend to be divided during AFL season denying n which AFL club we support, nothing beats coming together to support our national team. So what does the next couple of months hold? I think this will be one of the closest series in recent times. Sure we got done 3-0 just a few short months ago, & while we (forgive me for calling the Aussies we, but hey this IS my blog!) did play some good cricket, & didn't have luck on our side at time with the weather, England clearly deserved to win. When it mattered, they found something extra. This time round, it will be on our pitches, & our conditions, which will obviously suit us better. We haven't lost a Test in Brisbane, where proceedings kick off tomorrow, in over 20 years. Perth with its extra bounce is always challenging for visiting teams, while pitches in Adelaide & Melbourne are not easy to dislodge batsmen. That being said, we need to beat England, not vica-versa. Neither team is completely settled. England are still searching for a 3rd pacemen to support Broad & Anderson with Bresnan still out injured. They still are a batman short of a settled top 6 as well, plus have injury doubts over keeper Prior. The Aussies also have spots up for grabs. We know the 1 vacant batting spot has been given to George Bailey for his debut. I'm happy with this decision. I know its been a different form of the game in different conditions, but Baileys maturity & experience is the key that gets him over the line in my book. You can't keep going back to the likes of Khwaja & Hughes time after time. Our bowling will be tested, with 3 or 4 frontline bowlers out injured - for the first couple of Tests at least. A lot will depend on whether Johnson can get the radar right, & whether Harris can play all the Tests without getting injured again! The humid conditions forecast for Brisbane may tempt Australia to go with all rounder Faulkner & leave Lyon out, but we can't keep falling for the trap of overlooking Lyon. Lets face it, hes never going to be on a par with Warney, but hes a good honest spinner. We will need his variety. So who do I give the nod too? As much as I hate to say it, England do look that little more settled, & have that little more talent right now. If our captain fails with the bat, or worse still that back of his plays up again, the middle order suddenly becomes very brittle. Ditto if another fast bowler breaks down. England you sense have a more even battling line-up, & have 1 or 2 more resources in the bowling stakes. Will this can be offset somewhat by our home conditions, I'm sad to say I think, they still might be too good for us. Remember a drawn series is enough for England. So I sure as hell hope I'm wrong, but I'll say England 2-1. I think we will learn a lot about our senior cricketers this summer too. The opportunity is there for the taking - who will stand up & deliver the goods? Time will tell!

Movie Review: Elysium

ELYSIUM USA, 109 mins Dir: Neill Blomkamp Elysium is a 2013 sci-fi flick I saw at the movies a few months ago, so be on the lookout for it on DVD by Christmas! It stars Matt Damon & Jodie Foster. The year is 2154. People are largely divided into 2 classes – the ultra rich, who live on a space-station sort of setup, hovering over Earth which is called Elysium, while the rest of the population inhabit the Earth, which has become a desolate, rubbish ridden & overpopulated planet where sickness & disease are common. They are also overseen & forced to work under robots with little to look forward to in life. Meanwhile on Elysium, the rich live a life of care-free luxury; with everything anybody could want, including a bed in every home which can instantly cure any illness. Anybody trying to reach Elysium illegally however meets with dire consequences. Damon plays Max Costa, who after contracting a lethal dose of radiation in his job, vows to make it to Elysium to cure himself & take childhood friend Frey (Alice Braga) with him. Meanwhile, Secretary Of Defence on Elysium, Jessica Delacourt (an excellent performance by Jodie Foster), is ruling the station with an iron fist in an attempt to gain complete control of Elysium, & is prepared to go to any lengths to stop the likes of Max & his cohorts from making it to the luxury station. So with this background conveyed to the viewer, Elysium really does set itself up well for what should be an excellent film, especially as I’m a big sci-fi fan. But alas it really goes astray in the middle of the film, getting bogged down too much in Max’s internal battles. Also we lose momentum as the film focuses on his relationship with Frey & his agreements he is forced to make with smuggler Spider (Wagner Moura) & his cronies. It is really hard to get behind Max as the films protagonist as well - though Damon does a fairly convincing job in his primary role here, Max is just not that likeable a person. The film does conclude well, as Max & Co finally make it to Elysium for the inevitable showdown. The futuristic special effects & indeed the whole Elysium station comes across very well on the big screen, no expense of the budgets spared on this film. Jodie Foster is also perfectly cast in her role as the ruthless, ice cold, power hungry politician of Elysium who will do anything to maintain the station for the upper class only. Action fans will also not feel left out with plenty to keep them satisfied right throughout the film. To wrap things up, I found Elysium to be a quite an entertaining film, but the thing is that it could have been so much more. Had there been more sympathy for Damon’s character & less distraction in the middle of the film which dragged things down, it would have really made a difference. As it stands, Elysium is only a good sci-fi/action film, instead of a great one. I’m giving this ***